


beside your mouth that smiles now

by hirokiyuu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-22
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-21 06:32:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12451587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirokiyuu/pseuds/hirokiyuu
Summary: In which Shuu and Nazuna eat lunch.





	beside your mouth that smiles now

**Author's Note:**

> my old fic for the shunazu zine houdi (@houdidesu on twitter) organized, now with some minor edits! it's silly fluff but i had a lot of fun with it and i hope you enjoy!! 
> 
> title from [sleep tonight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhASLVinmnA) by stars!!

Shuu’s halfway to the handicrafts club room when someone snags his arm. “Itsuki,” Nito says, smiling brightly, “I was looking for you.”

Shuu stops dead in his tracks. Their relationship is -- they’ve repaired it, yes, talked things out, and promised they’d be friends, even if Nito was a member of Ra*bits now,  but still -- “For me?” Shuu asks stupidly.

“Yup,” Nito says, taking a step back. “I was, um, hoping we could eat lunch together.” Before Shuu can say anything, Nito thrusts out a pair of bento, stacked carefully on top of each other. “I made some for you.”

Shuu stares at them: the messily tied knots holding them together, the tiny patterned rabbits on the fabric, the tiny cuts he can see on Nito’s fingers. “What brought this on?” he asks.

Nito laughs, lowering the bento a bit. “I kinda heard from Mika-chin that you haven’t been eating too well, recently?”

Shuu scowls. “Honestly,” he says, clicking his tongue, “I don’t know what Kagehira’s talking about.” And -- well, sometimes his work might be a little too absorbing to think about anything else, but Kagehira or another member of his family usually tries to push at least a little food onto him every day.

Nito’s still smiling at Shuu, eyebrows raised. “Really?” he says.

“Really,” Shuu replies firmly. And of course that’s when his body betrays him, a growl echoing in the space between them, and Shuu’s cheeks start to burn.

Nito’s smile grows wider. “Like I said, let’s have lunch.” He gives the bentos another little wave.

“Fine,” Shuu says, and even despite the hot embarrassment in his stomach he can’t stop his lips from curling up at the ends as Nito falls into step beside him. Just like that they make their way to the handicrafts club room, take a seat at either end of the empty table. He takes the bento that Nito hands him, unwraps it carefully.

The contents are, quite frankly, adorable. Carrots cut into flower shapes, smiling octopus weiners, a messy Mademoiselle drawn with nori in the rice. Shuu looks back up and Nito’s gone all red, even as he slowly unties his own lunch. “I’ve never really tried cooking this kind of stuff before, but, um, I hope you like it?”

The first carrot that he bites into is a little mushy, slightly sweet but ultimately bland, and yet looking down at the rest of the carefully cut slices, there’s only one way to describe it. “It’s wonderful,” he says, meaning it, and when a relieved smile breaks over Nito’s face the tension in the room breaks with it.

The meal passes easier after that, idle chatter passing between them as Shuu finishes his food in quick but appreciative bites. They’ve learnt to be comfortable with each other, and eating Nito’s lunch, sharing Nito’s space, Shuu relaxes more and more until he’s smiling easily.

The bell rings suddenly, and though they’ve both long since finished their food, lunch had felt all too short. They pack up quickly, walk back to the third year wing, and when he reaches 3A Shuu stops with his hand on the door.

“Wait,” he says. Nito pauses, looking over at Shuu, and Shuu surreptitiously attempts to wipe his hands on his pants. “Tomorrow,” he says, swallowing, “would you mind if I made you lunch in return?”

Nito’s eyes go wide for a moment, and then a smile breaks out across his face, bright and warm. “Sure!” he says, and the genuine happiness in his voice leaves Shuu momentarily speechless. “I’ll be looking forward to it.”

Shuu can’t help but smile back. “Alright,” he says, and his voice is softer than he’d expected it to be. “Tomorrow, then.”

Nito nods, smile growing so wide his eyes curve up into crescents. “Tomorrow.” He pauses for a moment longer, still smiling at Shuu, before he finally turns to open the door and slip into his classroom.

* * *

The next day finds Shuu still in his classroom even after the bell rings for lunch, closing his notebook and carefully putting it back into his bag. He stands slowly, pushes his chair in carefully, and then there’s nothing to do but take the bentos from his desk and head towards the handicrafts room.

Nito’s already outside. He straightens when he sees Shuu, smile playing on the edges of his lips, and after a quick, “Hello,” he follows Shuu into the club room. And then -- well, all Shuu can do is slide the bento across the table to where Nito sits, and watch as Nito lifts the lid off to peer inside.

It’s not as if Shuu's never cooked before but -- this is _Nito_. He’d been up early cutting the sandwiches into perfect triangles but in the light of the club room they just look sad. Shuu reaches back out, but before he can pull the lunchbox back Nito’s grabbed it and tugged it closer to himself. “Sorry,” Nito says, and the smile still hasn’t left his face. “But I’m eating this, okay?”

And before Shuu can protest Nito lifts up the first sandwich and takes a bite. Shuu waits with baited breath as Nito chews, swallows, and then a smile breaks over Nito’s face. “I knew it would be good.”

His cheeks heat up at that, just a little, and his hands reach back over to tug it back. “I’m not sure --” he says, but Nito gives him a little swat.

“You made it for me,” Nito says, a mock scowl on his face even as a smile threatens to break the surface, “so I want to eat it. Okay?”

Shuu can’t quite make words come out of his mouth but he pulls his hand back, and Nito hums a little as he turns back to his lunch. Halfway through the other sandwich half, he glances up and frowns. “Itsuki,” he says, a little sternly. “You have to eat too.”

“Ah,” Shuu says, and stares down at his own bento. He doesn’t even reach for anything before he’s looking up again, because what if Nito’s about to try the --

And a second after Nito’s pushing one of the apple slices in his mouth. Shuu blinks, chews, swallows, and it’s only when he does that Nito finally pulls his fingers away. “See?” Nito says, and smiles. “It all tastes fine.”

“Ah,” Shuu says, and Nito settles back into his chair with a tiny satisfied grin. At first Shuu watches surreptitiously as Nito takes bite after bite, but in the end just like yesterday they move slowly into easy conversation.

And eventually they finish their food, Shuu taking his last bite even as he reaches for the bento’s lid. “Y’know,” Nito says, leaning forward to rest his chin on his hands as Shuu packs the lunchboxes away. “This was really nice.”

“I -- Good,” Shuu manages, even as a blush starts to crawl across his face again. “I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

Nito grins. “Well, your lunch was really tasty, but I meant more like --” he tilts his head more to the side and waves his newly freed arm at the space between them “-- this. You and me.”

For a moment Shuu’s tongue-tied. “In that case,” he says, before his brain can catch up to his mouth, “Should we -- continue? Whenever possible, I mean, I wouldn’t want to impose--”

“Yeah,” Nito interrupts, and even with his bangs falling over them his eyes are as bright as ever. “I’d really like that. You know,” and here, just for a moment, Nito hesitates, eyes drifting from Shuu’s. “I like being together with you.”

For a moment Shuu can’t quite breathe. “Yes,” he says, finally, voice more breathless than he’d expected. “I -- I like it too.”

And the smile Nito gives him is so warm that of course Shuu returns it, lets it spread slow across his face. The moment hangs there, easy and comfortable, and then --

The bell rings, and they both jump. They stare at each other for a second, and then Nito laughs, brightly, just once. “Come on,” he says, standing up. “Let’s get back to class. We can talk more tomorrow.”

“Ah, yes.” And even as Shuu grabs the lunchbox, even as they had back to their respective classrooms, his steps are lighter than usual.

Tomorrow. What a lovely word.

**Author's Note:**

> reminder that ya girl's got a fancy new writing twitter @yuunamakis, or you can catch me @hirokiyuus if you're more interested in chatting!


End file.
